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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

In honor of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part I we will be discussing how Professor Severus Snape is the most sympathetic and compelling villain in all of literature. Yes, I have posted about this a little bit before, but not like this.

[SPOILER ALERT]This applies to the entire post, so stop here if you've been on another planet for the last decade and haven't read all 7 Harry Potter novels.

Now let's get some things straight first. We're all aware that Snape is a complete and utter prat, a right awful git even, who is known to be a bit thick sometimes (for more of his faults, please see Ronald Weasley). He was a tall, thin man with long greasy black hair, bad skin, hooked nose and crooked teeth. A bit like the old witch with the apple in Snow White (except for the hair). But in spite of Snape's drawbacks there are several reasons that readers sympathize with him.

These will be in no particular order:

1) His love for Lily Potter (Evans): Pathetic, embarrassing, awkward? Yes. But you can't blame Snivelus. By all accounts Lily was a beautiful, kind and caring person, and a "witch of singular talent." You can't really blame young Severus for falling for her, especially since they met long Before Hogwart's and were both outcasts in their own way.

2) His talent for potions AND spells: You can't deny that Snape was one of the most brilliant wizards who ever lived. He's no Dumbledore or Tom Riddle, but of all the other witches and wizards in Harry Potter's world, none is described as being as well known for inventing his own powerful spells as Professor Snape.

3) His instinct to protect Draco Malfoy: When Draco is tasked with murdering Dumbledore Snape cannot help but agree to protect him, and even complete the job for him if necessary. He cares so much for Draco (who let's face it, annoying as he is is just a scared and troubled young man) that he agrees to the Unbreakable Vow, thus forfeiting his own life if he does not do as he's agreed. This seems pretty villainous at the time, but we later find out that he was asked by Dumbledore to do this.

4) His repeated failures to take over the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Come on, who doesn't love to watch someone as irritating as Snape is (especially in the early books) lose out on something he wants so badly over and over again. It's pretty adorable really.

5) His abuse at the hands of James and Sirius: Don't get me wrong, I love Sirius Black. He is one of my very favorite characters, EVER (it doesn't hurt in the least that he was played by possibly the most talented actor who has ever lived in the films, Gary Oldman). But ... he was a bit of a dick when he was in school. So was Harry's dad, James. They were very cruel to Snape. And come on, we're mostly all writers here, who wasn't a bit of a social pariah in school? Kids can be pretty cruel sometimes.

6) His willingness to act as a double agent against Lord Voldemort throughout the Second Wizarding War: Let's get one thing straight. Voldemort was a scary mofo. He was as evil as they come. And powerful. It takes great courage to oppose such as man as Harry and Dumbledore and many others did, but it takes a different kind of bravery, and honor, to serve such a man to his face, even as you undermine him behind his back. Severus Snape had the largest pair of diamond hard balls that any character from literature has ever possessed. EVER.

7) Dumbledore's absolute and unshakable trust in his loyalty: Of course this is proven to be fully warranted in the end, but let's discuss it a little further. Snape is pretty annoying throughout most of the books but towards the end we do begin to learn that Dumbledore trusts him absolutely. There is no wiser man or better judge of character in the history of the world (muggle, wizarding or otherwise) than Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, so if you've got his trust, you've got my sympathy.

8) Harry names one of his sons after him, because that son has Harry's mother, Lily's exact eyes: There is no question that Harry hates Severus for most of this entire tale, with a passion. Harry is a passionate but sometimes petulant young man, and it isn't until the very end, and the epilogue, that his true respect for Snape is revealed.

9) He was in Slytherin, but has an awesome Death Eater tattoo: You really can't help but feel bad for anyone who was ever sorted into Slytherin house, at least a little bit. Besides, even though it's meaning is quite evil, that Death Eater tattoo is pretty damn cool.

10) "I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death.": This has got to be one of the most famous introductory lines of dialogue ever. It was incredible writing already in the book, but when Alan Rickman delivered the line in the film, this character and the sinister romance of his story was solidified for people everywhere.

I could go on. This is one of the greatest stories ever told, and Professor Severus Snape is one of the most powerfully compelling characters in it. Instead of going on arguing my point, I'll just share some fun quotes with you. Some of these are directly from the books, some are slightly adapted because of the films.

"[Snape] was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."—Harry Potter

Snape: "…it is not up to you to find out what the Dark Lord is saying to his Death Eaters."Harry Potter: "No — that's your job, isn't it?"Snape: "Yes, Potter. That is my job."

Dolores Umbridge: "You applied first for Defence Against the Dark Arts post, is that correct?"Severus Snape: "Yes."Dolores Umbridge: "But you were unsuccessful?"Severus Snape: "…Obviously."

Dumbledore: "After all this time, Severus?"Snape: "Always."— Dumbledore and Snape discussing Snape's continued love for Lily Evans in Snape's last memory, as viewed by Harry Potter.

36 comments:

I love that you chose Snape to highlight today. Snape is by far one of my absolute favorite characters in the entire series. Even though he torments Harry for the duration of his stay at Hogwarts in the end his story for me was heartbreaking.

I have mixed feeling about snape. Which I think everyone does and JK Rowling purposely made him out to rub the readers the wrong way and then make us feel a little bad about his passing in the end. She's my idol. Great post matt!

SNAPE! I will say that I loved him the moment I found out that he was good, it felt good to know that his love for Lily and his hatred for James didn't completely ruin him. He is one of my favorite characters, even in his moments where he is tortured or is torturing Harry. Ugh... I can't wait to see everything (in which I'm sure I'll ball my eyes out)

Snape and Sirius are my two favorite characters from Harry Potter! His love for Lily and troubled childhood made him extremely sympathetic for me and I loved the way Rowling made me go back and forth on how I felt about him. She also managed to show different sides of James and Sirius by exposing Snape's school years. GENIUS! Great blog :)

Definitely one of the greatest stories ever told. The layers, the depth to every character--especially snape. Such a complicated man. I think J.K. Rowling did a remarkable job portraying one of the true natures of humanity--that there is no such thing as black and white. Excellent breakdown, Matt!

Great run-down of Snape! I absolutely love that Snape has a fondness for Lily...so sweet. And it's clever of JK Rowling to invent the pensieve so that flashbacks are less clunky and unwieldy. A great, magical way to see into Snape's past Hogwarts life.

It probably had something to do with all the speculation about Dumbledore being gay, but you're right, it is pretty ridiculous. Who cares what he does in the privacy of his own home? He's the greatest Wizard who ever lived people!

Snape was such an amazingly complex character.I have to admit I didn't like his character much all through the series, thankfully he redeemed himself again and again and what awesome twists that Rowling put this character through. She is brilliant.

You NAILED why Snape is one of the most compelling characters (villain or otherwise) ever written. I loved Sirius too. But Snape... heck. If I was Lily.... I'd take him bad hair, crooked teeth and all!

The QQQE Massive.

Who Am I?

I'm the father of two beautiful young ladies, three lazy cats and one adorable German Shepherd. Together we live in the mountains of north Georgia amid my endless collection of vinyl records.
I run this blog in an attempt to help other novice writers avoid the mistakes I made in the beginning of my road to publication. Believe me, I made many.